A much-changed Reds team – with the youngest average age of any side fielded by the club in the Premier League era – were beaten at the Liberty Stadium as their hosts finally mathematically secured Premier League safety thanks to Andre Ayew’s brace and Jack Cork’s strike.

Defeat means Liverpool will likely need to see off Villarreal in the second instalment of their last-four tie on Thursday if they are to keep their European qualification fate in their own hands.

“The Europa League is now our focus, but the Premier League will be our focus next weekend,” said Klopp.

Focused: Klopp insists his side will be ready (Image: Reuters / Rebecca Naden)

“We have played well with different line-ups, here we did not. I am used to this and accept performances will not always be 100 per cent.

“I am disappointed but we have to think about it and we will prepare for the second leg and see what happens.

“We hope there are five games left in our season and that is a good sign as we are still in competitions.

“Maybe the performance was influenced by the number of games but I want to influence the number of games we have in the future.